The High Five

9:52 am

Fri May 2, 2014

Plano Will Be Rockin' This Weekend, Thanks To Groovy New Music Festival

Alabama Shakes is among the groups performing at the new Suburbia Music Festival in Plano this weekend.

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Five stories that have North Texas talking: Plano hosts the new Suburbia Music Festival; the George W. Bush Library and Museum celebrates its first year; if Sriracha expands to Texas, could it head to San Antonio?; and more:

This weekend, a big new music festival is actually happening in Plano of all places. The Suburbia Music Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday at Oak Point Park & Nature Reserve. The lineup includes dozens of musical groups, including Alabama Shakes, David Guetta, J. Cole, Violent Femmes, Third Eye Blind, Blue October, Reverend Horton Heat, Midlake, Slightly Stoopid and Tegan and Sara. The Dallas Morning News takes a look at how the event puts Plano on the musical map. A colleague of the senior vice president of Live Nation regularly jogs at Oak Point Park and suggested the spot. “It’s like this oasis in the middle of a large amount of population,” Danny Eaton told The News. “You feel like you are getting away, but you don’t have to drive 100 miles and camp out. You can sleep in your own bed.” Our sister station KXT (91.7 FM) has a preview with everything you need to know before heading to the festival.

The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum had more than 438,000 visitors in its first year. The library, on the SMU campus, on Thursday celebrated its first anniversary of being open to the public with events that included a video presentation recapping the last year. Some documents and artifacts that haven't been displayed previously also are being shown. The National Archives and Records Administration says that of the previous two presidential libraries to open, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock, Ark., had more than 493,000 visitors in its first year, while the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station had 309,000. Margaret Spellings, president of the George W. Bush Center, talked with KERA this week. [Associated Press]

On Thursday, former President George W. Bush gave a wide-ranging interview to CNN. He said he hopes his brother, Jeb, will run for president. But he said he doesn’t think he’ll make a decision on running for president for about a year. He says he hasn’t talked with his brother about whether he will run. The former president called “despicable” the racist comments made by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Bush on Thursday kicked off the Warrior 100k, an annual, three-day 100-kilometer mountain bike race designed to highlight military members.

Expect more drought conditions across North Texas this summer. The Dallas Morning News reports: “AccuWeather, a private forecasting service, expects drought to intensify across Texas and the far West through summer. It also forecasts a tranquil year in the tropics, particularly in the western Gulf of Mexico, which could limit tropical storm activity and the heavy rains they can generate.” Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is reporting rainfall nearly 8 inches below normal for the year. We might not see substantial rains until fall or winter when an El Nino pattern in the Pacific Ocean could push more rain to the Lone Star state, The News reports.

If Sriracha expands to Texas, might it head to San Antonio? Texas officials are heading to California on May 12 to try to lure the company that makes the popular hot sauce to the Lone Star state. Huy Fong Foods Inc. has been in a legal tangle with the town where its plant is located – residents have complained of strong odors and the company had to shut down part of its operation. Huy Fong has hinted that it could be open to expanding, but that it probably won’t be relocating. The San Antonio Express-News reports: “San Antonio is an ideal location for production of the spicy condiment because it is close to the Rio Grande Valley, a region with a large agriculture industry that could easily grow chilies for the product, [Texas state rep. Jason] Villaba said.” The newspaper continued: “Because the chilies must be transported to a factory for production soon after being harvested, San Antonio, the largest city in South Texas, logistically would be a prime location for a manufacturing plant.” San Antonio officials say there are numerous locations around the city where a plant could operate without offending residents.